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Legendary animator Miyazaki to retire after 11 feature films

By The Associated Press

Posted:
09/01/2013 09:30:31 AM MDT

Updated:
09/01/2013 09:30:43 AM MDT

Director Hayao Miyazaki attends the "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" opening day stage greeting at Hibiya Sukara-Za on July 19, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan. The film opens today in Japan. (Junko Kimura/Getty Images)

VENICE, Italy — Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki's animation studio says "The Wind Rises," in competition at the Venice Film Festival, will be his last film.

Koju Hoshino announced Miyazaki's intention to retire Sunday, but declined to take questions, deferring to a news conference next week in Tokyo. "He wants to say goodbye to all of you, " the Studio Ghibli president said.

Miyazaki was not in Venice for the international premiere. His Italian distributor said he stayed in Japan for the domestic release.

Miyazaki, 72, is one of animation's most-admired and successful directors. He won an Oscar for "Spirited Away" in 2003, and a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement in 2005.

John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios and principal creative advisor of Walt Disney Imagineering, and Japanese film maker Hayao Miyazaki arrive for the industry screening of Walt Disney Pictures' "Ponyo" at the El Capitan Theatre on July 27, 2009 in Hollywood, California. (Kristian Dowling/Getty Images)

"The Wind Rises," Miyazaki's 11th feature film, is a fantasy-filled look at the man who designed Japan's World War II fighter planes.

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